


Kote, Who Bears the Silence's Hame

by CoatTheBoneless



Series: Torturing Kote for fun and profit [1]
Category: Kingkiller Chronicles - Patrick Rothfuss
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-07-02 09:50:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15794058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoatTheBoneless/pseuds/CoatTheBoneless
Summary: A short but angsty work inspired by some scenes in The Poppy War, that just fit kkc more and more as I thought about it. Elodin discovers what Kvothe's been doing with his powers.





	Kote, Who Bears the Silence's Hame

“What have you done.”

Elodin’s voice was wrong.

When Kvothe had heard the Master’s voice before, it would often carry far better than it should’ve. It could cut through the noise of any room and ring clearly no matter how loud his voice was.

But when Elodin spoke, his voice wasn’t simply heard above the hubbub of the crowd around them. His voice seemed to snuff out all other sound. His voice was a footstep in snow. His voice was a creak in the black of night. His voice was the eye of a storm.

It was a smothering, all-consuming silence.

No one else seemed to notice. The bustling crowd in the square never stopped in their business. But to Kvothe, Elodin’s voice had become his entire world. He suddenly felt as if he were floating in a vacuum, the four words shaking him to his very core.

Even Kvothe’s considerable acting ability cracked under the weight of that voice. He found himself tense and pale, frozen in place.

Elodin slowly approached, his face neutral. He spoke again.

“What have you done.”

It was barely a whisper this time, and yet the world lurched beneath him. Kvothe stumbled back. When he caught himself, he finally found his voice again.

“I didn’t know…” he croaked.

“You… didn’t know.” Elodin whispered back. It was still just as quiet but carried none of the force it had before. He leaned back, staring at the sky. “You didn’t know.”

They both stood like this for what seemed like forever.

“Kvothe, do you know the name I wish I knew the most?”

Kvothe shook his head.

“Time. Do you know why?”

Kvothe managed a small “no”.

“I have made mistakes in my life. I would like more than anything to simply take it all back. I regret so much.” He said. He looked at Kvothe, his gaze incredibly intense. “But not anymore. Do you know what I now regret more than anything else?”

“I don’t, sir.”

Elodin’s face warped into such an expression of rage and disgust that Kvothe almost felt that the earth had lurched again.

“Teaching you,” he spat. “But that, I can undo.”

And with that, Elodin spoke the name of the wind.

 

Years later, a man named Kote sat alone in silence. That silence had followed him ever since that fateful day in the square, since student and master had fought. Since the teacher had spoken that boy’s true name. Since he had taken everything from him.

Since the day he realized he deserved it.

**Author's Note:**

> [Find me on Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/coat-the-boneless)


End file.
